On January 27, the Attorney General’s Office sentenced Bayardo Arce Castaño and his executive assistant, Ricardo Bonilla Castañeda, for the crime of money laundering.

The sentence comes after Arce’s family told national and international media that they feared for the former official’s life. Bayardo Arce was arrested on July 30, 2025, and is being held in solitary confinement at La Modelo prison.

Although the Attorney General’s Office did not reveal the sentence against Arce and Bonilla, the crime of money laundering is punishable by up to fifteen years in prison. Arce’s companies and assets will be confiscated.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, the defendants used «multiple companies, bank accounts, and financial transactions to conceal the origin and destination of the money.» Forty-nine companies were identified that allegedly laundered up to $3 billion over many years.

Bayardo Arce’s wife, Amelia Ybarra-Rojas, and his brother, Amílcar Ybarra-Rojas, are also named as co-perpetrators of the same crime. Both are currently outside the country, and the case against them remains open.

Bayardo Arce was one of the nine commanders of the Sandinista Revolution. He was a deputy for the FSLN between 1997 and 2007. When Ortega returned to power in 2007, he was appointed advisor of economic affairs.

During his years in politics, Arce became a prominent businessman and key figure in Nicaragua’s private sector. His disagreements with Rosario Murillo gradually stripped him of power.

Bayardo Arce was sanctioned by the European Union, along with several officials of the Nicaraguan regime, for serious human rights violations. His condemnation is a sign of the purge taking place within the dictatorship and demonstrates the consolidation of power by Rosario Murillo, the country’s co-president.

None of the historical figures of the Sandinista Revolution are close to Ortega and his wife. Arce’s imprisonment follows the death of Humberto Ortega, the dictator’s brother, who died in 2024 under house arrest.